Friday, January 24, 2014 4:05:21 PMThere may be an innocent explanation in that, you know, they're applying something flammable (that they don't know is) to the baby's skin and then smoking near it? Or perhaps they're applying something to the skin that reacts with the detergent residue on the sheets, or whatever?

But, nah, likely one or both of them are just lighting him up. I think Squrlz4Sale nailed it: MBPS.

Thursday, January 23, 2014 3:25:55 PM@ Draculya: I'm with you. That child should be removed from that household ASAP. I have no doubt that a hidden video camera would reveal the husband or wife swabbing the baby with lighter fluid or something similar and applying a match.

Munchausen by proxy syndrome (MBPS) is a known disorder of parents and has been documented countless times. Spontaneous human combustion? Puh-leez.

Madduck, you were asking for someone to point out fault with this DM article, so here it is: The article violates the principle of Occam's razor. Rather than attributing this poor child's burns to what is almost certainly a case of child abuse by a mentally-ill parent, the reporter here attributes the cause to an implausible phenomenon that's never once been documented.

Thursday, January 23, 2014 8:56:04 AMMore worrying than the article- is the fact that the DM has apparently published a piece of writing which does not make me explode with fury... how strange. I would like a bit more information- but at first glance this seems fairly balanced- for the love of God- SOMEONE POINT OUT THE FLAWS!!!!..